Halloween Cosplaying
by Jediempress
Summary: Contest entry. It's Halloween on Radiant Garden and the costume theme this year is video game characters! See who everyone is cosplaying.


This likely sucks but I threw it together in two days for the KH-art contest on YGallery.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Cosplaying

"Have I told you how much I hate these ears?" Cloud muttered as he and Riku entered the park from one of the two side entrances.

"Only four times since we left the house," replied Riku patiently. The couple nodded to a few others, heading for the main grounds. There was a bit of a chill to the air on this late October day but not so much so that it was uncomfortable to be outdoors. "I still can't believe the council went with Sora's idea."

"I think Rufus and Leon were influenced by outside opinions," said Cloud. He adjusted the green cap he wore with a scowl, knocking loose one of the points attached to his ears. "Damn it."

Chuckling, Riku stopped walking and reached up to fix it. "Of course they were. This whole thing is right up Reno, Demyx and Zack's alley. Hold still."

"Hey, you two!" Yuffie greeted loudly, skipping toward them with a large smile. She wore a large, beetle-looking hat on her head and a leaf-like cape. Denzel and Marlene were with her, both smiling in amusement. "Wow, Cloud really does look like Link!"

When they reached the couple, Denzel smirked at Riku. "Any excuse to wear a dress, huh?"

"Quiet you," Riku smirked back, finishing up re-attaching Cloud's elf point. "I happen to like Zelda and you're the one in the obnoxious blue body-stocking, Megaman."

"Does anyone else feel like they're at a con or something?" Yuffie asked, turning to look back at the open courtyard of the main entrance where she and the other two had come from. "It's like everyone is simply cosplaying."

"We pretty much are," Marlene shrugged, the large flower of her Pikman costume waving a bit in response. "Everyone's wearing video game costumes so… yeah, we're all cosplaying."

"So, who are you, Yuffie?" Cloud asked looking over the young woman.

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "What? You can't tell!? I'm Issun from Ookami!"

"Cloud's video game knowledge is extremely limited, yo," Reno's voice came from behind Riku and Cloud. "I think Leonhart knows more about them."

The couple turned and both lifted eyebrows. While it was obviously Reno, the wiry frame and voice confirmed that, he was wearing a bald-cap, had covered his tattoos with make-up and painted on a goatee. He was also wearing Rude's sunglasses along with an immaculate Turk suit. "At first I thought you were the guy from Hitman but the goatee is definitely Rude."

"I was gonna do Hitman but Dem thought it would be funny if me and Rude did each other and Rude was up for it so…" Reno paused and angled his head. "And that sentence sounded really bad, didn't it?"

Beside him was Demyx, dressed as Raiden from Mortal Kombat. He even had contacts in for his eyes. Glancing at his boyfriend, he grinned. "I knew there was something else going on with you two!"

"You and the rest of us," the third member of their group smiled lightly. Rufus Shinra did not look anything like he normally did. Gone was the fancy suit and in its place were dark cargo pants that looked like they might have been Zack's, a tight black t-shirt and a leather jacket that was likely one of Leon's. His blond hair had some brown added to it. "Scarlet often called attention to how close the two of them are."

"Scarlet was a bitch who wanted in Rude's pants, yo." Reno scowled. "We went out of our way to make her think that so she's leave him alone."

"Of course you did." Rufus clearly did not believe him. He continued walking, brushing past Riku and Cloud. Demyx chuckled and pulled Reno to follow him.

"You know," Riku watched after them a moment. "Rufus looks damn good in that outfit."

Cloud looked at the teen darkly. "Really."

"Yeah, really."

"Uh huh," Cloud narrowed his eyes a moment then glanced at Marlene. "I'll pay you five munny for every time you can sneak up behind him and whine 'Leon'."

Yuffie laughed loudly. "Oh! I'll double it if you can do it around Squall and totally confuse the issue!"

Grinning widely, Marlene nodded. "Okay."

She and Denzel ran off, passing up Sora, Axel and Irvine. The three glanced back at them before turning back to Riku, Cloud and Yuffie. Axel took a drag of his cigarette and smirked. "Do we even want to know?"

"Nope!" Yuffie shouted, moving to make her own way back to the main gathering. "Have you guys seen Zell?"

"Yeah, he's torturing Squall by making him talk to the kids in Italian accents," Irvine laughed, finishing his own cigarette. "I still have no idea what he had on Squall to get him to be the Luigi to his Mario."

"I don't care what he had to do!" Sora chortled. "I'm just glad there's gonna be pictures!"

"Oh, yeah!" Yuffie agreed. She skipped off, throwing over her shoulder, "Love the blue hair, Ax!"

The former Nobody shouted back a thanks. He then began straightening out his costume. "This damn thing is hot. Why did I decide to be Sonic again?"

"No clue," Irvine shrugged. He then abruptly hit the fire-wielder's chest. "Did you see Rufus? Sweet Shiva, I didn't think he could get more gorgeous!"

"Did he do the Resident Evil thing?" Axel had immediately joined Irvine in the 'Rufus Shinra is a Sexy Beast' idea.

"Yes!" Irvine turned and tugged on his arm. "Come on, we just passed them on our way out here."

The two took the lead and the whole group began moving again. It was rather odd to see Solid Snake escorting Sonic the Hedgehog down the path. Then again, it was likely they were going to be seeing a lot of strange things over the next few hours.

Cloud shifted his shield and took Riku's hand. As they walked with Denzel and Sora, he looked Sora over once. "Please don't tell me you're dressed up as yourself, Sora."

"Ugh!" The spiky brunet stopped to stomp his foot. "Why doesn't anyone know who I am? I'm Neku from The World Ends With You!"

"One, that game isn't even out yet," Riku stated simply. "Two, you know that the three main characters look like rip-offs of you, me and Kairi."

"Yeah, you kinda took the lazy route with your costume, Sora," Denzel agreed. "All you had to do was put on white shorts, a purple shirt and headphones."

Sora pouted angrily but did not argue with them. The small group entered the main area and they were instantly surrounded by other costumed townspeople. Some of the outfits were very simple and others incredibly complex. It really was like being at an anime convention.

They were stopped several times by people wanting pictures, some individual, some group. A few even asked for poses with them, much to Cloud's irritation. It took a good fifteen minutes to actually get into the Halloween Party.

"Why am I not surprised to see Ku in a dress?" Zack laughed brashly, cutting through the crowd with a drink in his hand. His black hair was colored white and he had picked up a rather nice looking red leather trench coat. "And Spike, I'm digging the elf ears."

"Go ahead, Zack," Cloud took the drink from his friend's hand. "I'll just call you Genesis for the rest of the night."

"Oh, that's low, Cloud," frowned Zack. "Just cause I'm wearing a red coat with a big ass sword… Dante is kinda like Genesis, isn't he?"

"So who else is here?" Riku changed the subject, looking over the crowd.

"Last I saw, Tifa and Rude were with Squall and Zell by the clearing," Zack grinned. "They got dragged into a photo op with the twins."

"Why?"

Denzel chuckled. "Because Ayden and Ilea are dressed up like goombas."

"Oh, that has to be adorable," Riku nearly melted. Cloud rolled his eyes but simply rubbed at his lover's lower back.

"There you guys are!" Tifa pushed her way around the group gathered around one of the hot cider stands. Her hair was up in covered buns and she was dressed in a blue, Chinese-style dress. They all quickly decided that Chun Li was perfect for her.

"Do you know anything about why Marlene is randomly squealing _Leon_ and driving both Rufus and Leon crazy?" The woman folded her arms and tilted her head in a knowing manner.

"Nope, not a clue," Cloud shrugged, steering Riku in the direction she had come from. "Where's this Super Mario photo shoot with your kids happening?"

Tifa made an amused noise and motioned them to follow. "Oh, it's adorable but it's obvious that Leon is absolutely _miserable_. Zell, however, is totally playing into the whole thing."

"Of course he is," Sora grinned. "It was his idea."

"I'm gonna go find Marlene," Denzel informed them before running off. Riku, Cloud, Sora and Zack moved after Tifa.

There was a large cluster of people with cameras surrounding one of the small sitting areas. Tifa guided them around the outside of it, smiling and thanking the few who stopped her to say how cute her twins were. Once they got near the brick that separated the path from the grass, they cut through the gathering.

Rude was off to the side, in a red wig and wrinkled suit, carefully watching the four sitting on the bench two feet away. He glanced at Tifa and smiled slightly then nodded to Riku, Cloud, Sora and Zack.

An obviously fake Italian accent drifted toward them, gaining everyone's attention. Zell was grinning and carrying on animatedly in his red shirt and hat and overalls. He now stood with Ilea, pretending to be scared of the one-year-old dressed as a goomba. Leon scowled on the bench, holding Ayden who was trying to remove his mustache.

"Aw!" Riku gushed, smirking at the glare Leon sent him.

Zack chuckled and came over to sit beside his lover. He held his hands out and Leon gratefully handed Ayden over. "I don't think Luigi likes the little goomba."

"I like the goombas just fine," Leon retorted as he fixed his costume. "I hate this outfit."

"Aw, poor thing," Zack muttered, making faces at the baby.

Meanwhile, Riku had taken Ilea from Zell and was walking the girl after 'Mario' who mockingly ran away from them. Flashes from a dozen cameras lit up and the small child giggled happily. Cloud watched from the side with a light smile.

After a few minutes of this, Riku stopped running around and Zell went back over to the bench. Since it appeared things were settling down, the crowd gathered began dispersing. The twins looked tired and Rude stepped in to take Ayden from Zack. Riku held on to Ilea, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

As the surrounding citizens shuffled off, Reno, Demyx, Rufus, Irvine and Axel reappeared. Reno joined up with Rude, shaking his head and muttering something with the other Turk smiled at. Rufus stood before Leon and Zack, flanked by Irvine and Axel.

"Okay, Leon and Snake kinda go together but Sonic just totally doesn't fit," Sora laughed. Glancing around, he angled his head. "Actually, we all make for a really mis-matched bunch."

"You want wrong?" Zack challenged before pulling Leon to him by an overall strap and kissing him thoroughly.

"Yeah, Dante and Luigi…. No."

Zack released Leon and leaned back. "Ugh, never grow facial hair, Squall."

Zell snorted, brushing at his own black mustache. "Yeah, these things are a pain."

"_Leon!_" A high-pitched voice called out suddenly. It was followed by giggling when Leon glanced back toward it.

"Speaking of pains," Rufus spoke with a bit of an edge. "Who's idea was it to offer Marlene munny to torment me?"

"Cloud's!" Yuffie shouted from some nearby bushes.

Rufus lifted an eyebrow at the other blond but made no further comment. Cloud glared in the direction of the girls. "You're the one who added Squall into the agreement."

"Hey!" Yuffie jumped up, her beetle-hat falling back. "You can't rat me out just because I ratted you out!"

"He just did," Demyx pointed out.

Yuffie fumed, leaving her cover along with Marlene. She stomped up beside Zell who put his arm around her. Marlene followed after, glancing around the courtyard.

"Looking for someone, yo?" Reno asked, fixing Demyx's top shirt.

"Aerith said she was going to come but I haven't seen her yet."

"She was going to help Cid get set up and then come out," Leon explained to her. "She'll be around soon."

"Did Sephiroth say anything about coming?" Tifa looked at Riku, smiling when she noted that Ilea had fallen asleep against him.

Cloud was also observing this and responded for Riku. "He said he might. You know he hates these things more than me and Leon combined."

"It would have been a lot easier to convince him if he didn't have to wear a costume," Zack noted, folding his arms. "Or if Sora agreed to let him come as himself."

"Hey! The idea is to dress up as someone else!" The spiky brunet declared. "I barely let Reno and Rude get away with playing each other."

"Says the guy who picked a character that looks just like him," Denzel smirked, coming up from behind Zell and Yuffie.

Before Sora could protest, Denzel nudged Marlene. "Aerith's here."

"Where?"

The thirteen-year-old grinned. "She, Tseng and Sephiroth will be over here in a minute."

Rufus, Reno and Rude gave Denzel odd looks. Reno folded his arms and cantered his head. "Tseng's here?"

"Yep," Denzel nodded. "How long do you think it took Aerith to convince him?"

"What intrigues me is who she got him to come as," Rufus commented, Rude nodding his agreement.

"Anyone want to take bets who Seph is cosplaying?" Zack offered, earning a few laughs. "I really can't wait to see that."

"He's given absolutely no indication so this will be interesting," Riku stated. He slowly rubbed at Ilea's back.

"You know, there's something telling about you holding a sleeping baby while wearing a dress, Ku," Sora grinned at his best friend. "For anyone who had doubts about what role Riku's gonna play when he and Cloud have kids…"

"There was doubt?" Zack, Leon, Axel and Rude all stated as one.

Riku and Cloud both rolled their eyes but neither made their own comments. After a moment, they, along with Zack, glanced to the right past Tifa, Rude, Reno and Demyx. Assuming this meant Sephiroth was close, the others also looked over.

They spotted Aerith and Tseng first. Initially, it was hard to identify Aerith due to her now blonde hair, however, Tseng looked enough like himself to pick him out. The Cetra and Turk were buying cider from a stand, Tseng paying for it despite Aerith's attempt to.

The pair received their drinks and turned toward the group. Aerith smiled and gently nudged Tseng before they began walking over. She seemed quite happy in the Turk leader's company.

As she joined the group, she commented, "I can't believe the variety we got for today!"

"I can't believe you're wearing that," Zack eyed his ex-girlfriend. "Zero-form Samus, huh?"

The woman shrugged, glancing over herself. "It was an easy costume and the others at the ward liked the idea."

Reno and Rude were nearly staring at their superior. They were obviously fighting grins that Rufus did not both to hide. The blond man brought a hand to his chin, amusement shining in his eyes. "I'll give you the weekend off if you shout out 'Objection!' right now."

Tseng only gave him a look.

"Man, if your Phoenix Wright, Sephiroth better not be Edgeworth cause I would die," Sora stated seriously.

"Yeah," everyone else agreed.

"No, he isn't Edgeworth," Aerith grinned mysteriously. She turned to look back. "He should have been just behind us…"

"He got swarmed for another photo session," Tseng explained, carefully moving a loose strand of Aerith's hair.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "That good?"

Aerith chuckled. "Oh, yeah. You know how when you all want to annoy him, you compare him to that Heavenly Sword character?"

Zack, Zell, Leon, Riku, Cloud, Reno, and Demyx all grinned. Zack was the one who spoke for all of them. "Oh, he didn't…."

"Do we want to know?" Axel leaned back a bit, arms crossed before his waist. Rufus and Yuffie seemed just as confused.

Zack looked like he was going to burst apart. "Oh he is never going to live this one down."

Before Yuffie could ask, Riku started laughing and Cloud and Zack snorted in amusement. Tifa, Rude, Reno, Demyx and Denzel joined in a second later. If took that long for the rest of the group to take in what they saw.

Ten feet out, Sephiroth slowly approached them, surrounded by a flock of followers. Cameras clicked and flashed, at times making it hard to see the tall man. It appeared that Kenshin, Soubi, Mustang and Yuki were acting as some kind of guard, circling around him and keeping people away.

He needed it.

"Oh, fucking Ifrit, why don't I have a camera?" Zack cursed loudly.

"I…" Riku sputtered, somehow not waking up Ilea. "I don't even have _words_."

"Only Sephiroth could pull off wearing that outfit and still look intimidating," noted Rude. Demyx, Tifa and Aerith nodded agreement.

"Damn," Axel breathed out. "I think I have a new obsession."

"I don't think I want to know how he was convinced to wear that." Zell shook his head.

"I want to know who got him to dye his hair red," Cloud murmured.

"Yeah, that had to be harder than getting him in the outfit," Zack seconded. "He's vainer that hell about his hair."

Sephiroth's expression was completely neutral as he broke away from his 'guards' and approached his small family of friends. He did not seem to be at all uncomfortable in the white mid-drift shirt, shorts that may as well have been underwear and the swath of very-well positioned fabric that draped only one hip and exposed the other that served as a skirt.

"Say anything and you will be dead sometime before Thanksgiving," Sephiroth's voice was calm there was a very dangerous glint to his feline eyes.

"Wow, Seph," Riku made a slow circuit around his brother. "You know, we were really just kidding about the whole Nariko thing but… you really do look like her."

"Outside the fact that he is obviously male," Axel added, gazing over the former general with obvious want.

"Who would have guessed that both of Jenova's brats would look good cross-dressing?" Zell snorted.

"Riku totally has Seph beat in that department," Irvine observed critically. "Even though Sephiroth has an effeminate face, his body type is clearly masculine whereas Riku is a total bishie."

Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa and Marlene agreed with the cowboy's assessment.

"I have to know who put you up to this," Zack stood up. "Cause they had to have something damn good on you."

Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder, his now red hair swinging with the movement. "Let us simply leave it at I lost a bet."

Off to the side, the man's four guards smirked and chuckled at him. Zack, Leon, Riku and Cloud noted this and after quick exchanges of looks, silently decided they owed the other four a full night of drinking. They were also going to have to send Reno and Yuffie out to get the details of how this all came about.

"Hey, guys!" Ritsuka came over, holding his camera in front of him. "Let me take a picture of all of you together."

Sephiroth, along with Cloud, Leon and Rufus, lifted an eyebrow at this but did not protest as Yuffie, Zell and Axel began positioning everyone. With so many people involved, it took a good fifteen minutes to figure out how they wanted everyone. Even after they decided, they switched around.

In the end, Tifa holding Ilea, Aerith, Tseng, Axel, Sora and Leon crammed together on the bench. Rude with Ayden, Reno, Demyx, Rufus, Sephiroth, Riku, Cloud and Zack, squatting down to wrap his arms around Leon's shoulders, clustered behind them. Sitting on the stone before them were Irvine, Zell, Yuffie and Sora with Denzel and Marlene in front of them.

"Okay, on the count of three…"

Riku glanced over the group before looking at Cloud. He knew he was a sap but he was happier than anything at that moment. He really did love being with everyone, his family.

Cloud looked back at him and gave him that small smile that was reserved just for Riku.

They turned their attention forward just as Ritsuka said three and the camera flashed. He took one more to be safe, then nodded and smiled mildly at the group. "I'll give you all copies. Happy Halloween."

Almost as one, they returned, "Happy Halloween."


End file.
